Christmas Charms
by worrywart
Summary: Total Christmas Schmaltz lies ahead for you readers! Severus and his daughter are Christmas shopping for Hermione. Characters are OOC...post war..AU...EWE...SSHG.


Ahead lies complete and utter Christmas Schmaltz, so if that's not your thing, hit the back button and find another story. This is totally OOC! This is a SS/HG story, so if that's not your bag, baby, hit that back button!

Thank you to Velveteenbunny for the Brit pick.

This little fic is also dedicated to Cybrokat and her Turtle, who'll be the big brother to his very own little sister soon. I thought of him when writing the Christmas morning scene. I hope you like it!

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Severus Snape sat at a somewhat greasy table in a cheap little hamburger shop, waiting for his wife and nursing a cold cup of coffee. He was overly warm and uncomfortably dressed in a thick jumper and stiff black jeans. He wore his cloak over top and his dragon hide boots.

Beside him sat a small girl with long black hair that was kept away from her face by a dark green Alice band. Her hair was absolutely straight and so fine it flew every which way no matter how much Sleakezy's was combed through it or clips and bands were secured within it. Severus reached over to brush some loose hair away from her face.

"Do you need help with your drink, Bridget?" he asked.

Little hands were clutched around a drink cup that seemed bigger than the girl. "No, Daddy. I can do it."

Severus smiled at his four-year-old. She was as stubborn as her mother at times— cup dwarfing moments like these emphasised that point—but he adored her more than life itself. "Mummy should be along at any moment, and then we'll go to the shops."

"Mummy is sick?"

Perplexed, Severus responded, "No, why do you ask?"

"Mummy telled me this morning that she was going to see the Heal-le-er."

"Healer," Severus carefully corrected her. "Sometimes you see the Healer when you're not sick, just to make sure you stay well."

"Oh," Bridget replied in her best know-it-all voice.

Severus laughed and smiled. "Birdie, what shall we buy Mummy for Christmas?" The little girl had come by her nickname when James Potter mangled the pronunciation of Bridget, and from that moment on, she was called Birdie by all who knew her.

Bridget apparently decided she had enough of sitting on her own, slipped off her seat and crawled into Severus' lap. He cuddled her close. "We should get her somefing pretty," she said.

"Indeed. How about some new earrings?"

"No, Daddy! Somefing even prettier!"

"A new ring?"

"No!" Bridget said with as much emphasis as she could, indicating that apparently her daddy had no sense of pretty whatsoever. "Mummy is pretty, so it must be as pretty as she is!"

"I agree," declared Severus as he reached for a napkin to help Bridget wipe her hands. He had only just realized she had a bit of ketchup on them from eating her hamburger. "How about we get mummy a new day planner?"

Bridget violently shook her head back and forth. "Daddy!"

Severus laughed. He loved to tease his little girl to exasperation just like he did Hermione. Both girl and woman were their most beautiful when they were angry.

"What do you suggest, then, my dear Birdie?"

"A puppy."

Severus pulled the girl away from his chest and looked into her eyes. They were as black as his, but had Hermione's shape and were always merry-looking. "Why do I think a puppy would be more for you than mummy? And how would a puppy be as pretty as mummy?"

"It would be all of ours puppy," she said sagely. "Only it would sleep with me."

"Why would it sleep with you?"

"Because you and mummy have each other to sleep with, and I have no one."

"I see."

"And puppies have these lovely, large brown eyes, just like Mummy's!" Bridget explained as though it should be obvious.

"Well, perhaps a puppy is not the best choice for your mother." Severus looked at his watch, deciding that Hermione had been delayed. He stood up and said, "Come along, Birdie. Mummy will be a bit yet, so we'll look at some shops, okay?" He adjusted his daughter on his hip, gathered the detritus from their meal and placed it in the bin. Leaving the restaurant, Severus began to walk along the street, chatting with his daughter and pointing out various items in the windows.

A jewellery shop caught Severus' attention, and he stopped to look at the displays. Aside from the garish Christmas decorations, there was a lovely array of baubles and gems to beckon any man into the store, looking for the perfect gift. One such item, tucked into a fold of cloth in the corner, stood out among the rest.

"Birdie, look at that bracelet in the corner. What do you think?"

Bridget leant over her father's arm, pressing her face against the glass. "Ooo, Daddy! It's very pretty."

"Shall we go in and take a look at it?" Bridget nodded vigorously. "All right, we shall then," laughed Severus, setting the girl on the pavement. He opened the shop door and was immediately blasted with hot hair. It was lovely at first and then quickly became stifling.

"May I help you?" A middle aged woman bustled over to the pair. "Aren't you a lovely little thing," she said to Bridget. "Are you wanting to buy a pressie?"

Bridget hid behind her father's leg and whispered, "Yes. For my mummy."

The woman smiled and looked up at Severus. "What did you have in mind, sir?"

Severus gestured at the window. "You have a bracelet in your display I'd, or rather, we'd like to look at."

"Oh yes! It's a charm bracelet," the lady said as she walked to the display and reached for the item. Once she had the bracelet in her hand, she indicated that Severus and Bridget should follow her to the counter. "It's sterling silver, adjustable and could hold up to twenty charms. We carry a wide variety of charms ranging from simple hearts to all sorts of career motifs. Let me get them for you." She bustled over to another counter and returned with a large tray of bracelet charms.

Bridget, enamoured with the way the lights highlighted the charms to their best effect, reached out to touch them, but Severus drew her hand away. "Mustn't touch, love," he said.

"But they're so pretty!" she exclaimed.

"They are," Severus agreed, "but it's not polite to touch what is not yours."

The woman smiled. "Do you see any you like, dear?" she asked Bridget.

"I like the puppy one!"

Severus smiled. "What about these hearts, Birdie?"

The saleswoman said, "We can engrave the hearts, sir. You could put your daughter's name on it and perhaps her date of birth."

Bridget suddenly cried out, "Look, Daddy! There's a cauldron! Just like you have at mphff…" Severus had pressed a hand over her mouth before she blurted anything further.

Fortunately, the woman didn't seem to notice the faux pas and simply said, "Oh, we carry all sorts of themes. It seems that a lot of folks are enamoured with the books that lady wrote about the boy wizard, so we carry all sorts of witchy/wizardy things. See? We have cauldrons, broomsticks, wands and a wee castle."

Severus simply nodded. "Bridget, what if we got mummy the bracelet and then a heart?"

"Can we get a cauldron, too?"

"If you wish. Would you like the shop to engrave your name on a heart?"

"Okay," Bridget said excitedly. "But you must get a heart with your name on it, too."

"Mummy knows who I am, dear one."

"Mummy knows who I am too, but we must have two hearts."

Looking at the clerk, he said, "The lady has spoken." Bridget giggled. "We shall have the bracelet, two hearts and the cauldron."

"Let me get the sales slip written up, then. It will take approximately three weeks for the engraving. You may pick it up on the…" She consulted a calendar. "The twenty-first. Plenty of time before Christmas."

With the slip tucked carefully in his coat, he and Bridget left the shop. As they stood in the cold, Severus adjusting their coats and a discreetly cast Warming Charm, he looked at his watch. "Let's go, love. You mother should be done about now, and then we can go home. I think it's time for a nap."

"I'm not sleepy," Bridget said loudly.

"So you say," replied Severus, picking her up and knowing full well that she would be asleep upon his shoulder before he arrived at St. Mungo's to meet Hermione.

Hermione bustled up to the pair as she left St. Mungo's. "Hello, loves!" she cried as she approached. "Oh, is she sleeping?" she asked as she stood on tiptoe to kiss Severus' cheek. "Did you have a good morning? I'm sorry my appointment took so long; they had an emergency."

Severus returned her kiss and answered, "It gave us a bit of time to look around. Do you need to go anywhere?"

"I do, but since she's asleep, why don't we pop to the Burrow and leave Birdie there? I know Molly would love a chance to take care of her, and we could finish our shopping. I want to get it out of the way before the end of term at Hogwarts; I'll have a lot of grading to do during the holidays, and I want all the shopping and fuss done before then."

Severus agreed and as they walked to an Apparition point, he asked, "How was your appointment? Is everything all right?"

Hermione quickly adjusted her hood so that Severus wouldn't see her smile. "Oh, yes. All is well; just a check up."

 **Four weeks later**

"Mummy! Open me and Daddy's present next!" begged Bridget as she waded through a veritable sea of Christmas wrapping paper strewn throughout the sitting room. She dropped a smallish package into her mother's lap.

"It's awful small to be a puppy," Hermione said.

"See, Daddy! Mummy _wanted_ a puppy!" She stamped her foot as she looked accusingly at her father.

Hermione laughed, "Well, in a way, I am glad it's not a puppy. Perhaps on your birthday?"

"Okay," Bridget said dismissively. "Open it! Open it!"

Hermione looked at her husband, who sat next to her, and smiled as she began to carefully open the awkwardly wrapped package.

"I helped Daddy wrap it!" Bridget said as she danced in front of her mother, eagerly watching her open the gift.

"You've done a wonderful job, too," Hermione said. In moments she had the bracelet in her hand, carefully fingering the charms. "It's lovely! The caldron is sweet. The hearts…oh, you had them engraved!" Hermione looked at the first heart which read, _HG and SS_ and below their names, _2-2-2001._ The second heart read, _Bridget Eileen_ and under it, _2-18-2004._ She hugged Birdie to her. "I love them, but it's not quite right."

Severus looked at Hermione. "What do you mean? Did they not engrave it correctly? I was certain I had inspected it thoroughly before Birdie and I wrapped it."

Hermione leant up to kiss her husband's cheek. "Well, you can correct it for my birthday," she explained. "We'll just need another heart by then."

"Another heart?" asked Severus, confused.

"Well," Hermione smirked in anticipation of her husband's reaction, "it just wouldn't be fair to have a heart with our daughter's name and birth date on it, and not our son's." Hermione giggled the moment she saw the knut drop in Severus' mind.

"A son?" he gasped. "You mean your appointment at St. Mungo's wasn't just a physical?"

"Oh, it was a physical, but to make sure our son was well."

"Oh, love!" Severus breathed and pulled Hermione onto his lap, kissing her soundly.

"Ugh! Daddy, stop kissing Mummy like that," Bridget grumped.

Severus helped Hermione return to her spot on the sofa and then he stood and swooped Bridget into his arms and spun her around, causing the wrapping paper to whirl around them. "My little Birdie," he sang, "you're going to be a big sister! Your mummy is going to have a baby!"

"You mean like Auntie Ginny did when she was giving James a baby brother?" she asked, wide-eyed.

"Exactly like that!" exclaimed Severus as he put her down. "What do you think of that?"

Bridget eyed her mother's stomach and then went over and carefully patted it. "You mean you have my brother in here? Are you going to get a huge tummy like Auntie Ginny did?"

"Oh, yes. And then, sometime in June, your brother will be born."

Severus plonked back onto the sofa next to Hermione. "This is a lovely Christmas present, love. Thank you so much." He kissed her again.

Bridget climbed up between her parents, wiggling her bottom until they moved enough for her to slip down onto the sofa. "Mummy, when we have the baby, where will it sleep?"

"Well," Hermione began, "at first, he'll be very tiny and do nothing but sleep and eat, so he'll stay in my bedroom. When he gets a little older, he'll have his own room, right next to yours."

"Oh," said Bridget.

"You don't sound like you like that idea," said Severus.

"I was hoping he could sleep in my room."

"He'll cry a lot at night and disturb your sleep, but when he's older, if you wanted, he could stay in your room some nights."

Bridget smiled. "That sounds nice." She cracked a big yawn as she finished.

"Are you tired?" asked Hermione.

"No," she said as she leant into her father's side. "I'm not sleepy at all." Her eyes closed and then opened…once, twice, and then no more.

"I'll put her down for a nap," said Severus as he stood.

"Would you like some tea when you get back?" asked Hermione.

Leaning over his armful of daughter, he kissed Hermione's cheek and answered, "No. I would like to return to our bedroom so I can thank you properly for my son."

"If I remember right, what you have in mind is why we're having another baby!" Hermione's laughing voice followed him down the hall.

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A/N: 2-2 and 2-18 are my anniversary and son's date of birth respectively, if not the years.


End file.
